Easy-to-clean drinking straw

ABSTRACT

An easy-to-clean drinking straw include a C-section tube having a slot and a resilient sheet with its front end combined with an inner edge of the slot as a unity. The resilient sheet is such configured that when rolled up toward the slot from its rear end and pressed into the C-section tube through the slot, the resilient sheet becomes tubular and gets positioned in the C-Section tube, and upon release of the pressing force applied thereto, the resilient sheet shows unfolding tendency due to its own resilience and thereby fits closely the inner wall of the C-section tube, so as to form the drinking straw. For cleaning, the resilient sheet rolled up and positioned in the C-section tube is pulled out through the slot of the C-section tube, and then the resilient sheet automatically unfolds and returns to a sheet due to its own resilience.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to easy-to-clean drinking straws, and more particularly to drinking straws that can be cleaned easily.

2. Description of Related Art

It has become a worldwide trend to ban the use of plastic drinking straws. As results of initiatives promoted by environmental groups, many regions and countries such as EU, UK, India, Canada, US and Singapore have legislated against using plastic drinking straws.

Thus, when buying and having drinks outside, consumers have to bring their own reusable drinking straws, and there are now reusable drinking straws made of different materials on the market for consumers to choose.

However, while the existing reusable drinking straws are different from the plastic drinking straws in terms of material, they are structurally unchanged, which means they are still tubes with small diameters and not easy to clean. For washing such a drinking straw, a small brush has to be used to scrub the inner wall of the tube, and since visual check is relatively difficult, the cleaning result is not necessarily satisfactory.

In addition, in view that such a reusable drinking straw is designed for portable use, the small cleaning brush undesirable adds a burden and cause inconvenience to users, making users unwilling to carry the cleaning brush with them.

In this case, after use, the reusable drinking straw can be only roughly washed with water. Once the drinking straw is not properly cleaned at its inner wall, pathogenic bacteria can grow rapidly and sicken a user using the contaminated straw.

In view of the shortcomings of the prior art, the inventor uses his years of experience to invent a drinking straw that is suitable for repeated use and is easy to clean after use.

The invention as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an easy-to-clean drinking straw, which has a rigid C-section tube and a resilient sheet whose front end is combined with the inner edge of the slot of the rigid C-section tube as a unity.

Particularly, the resilient sheet is such configured that its rear end can be rolled up toward the slot of the C-section tube, and pressed into the slot of the C-section tube. The rolled up, tubular resilient sheet then shows unfolding tendency due to its own resilience when the pressing force is released, so as to abut against and fit closely the inner wall of the C-section tube, thereby forming the drinking straw.

For cleaning the drinking straw, the rolled-up, tabular resilient sheet is pulled out from the C-section tube where it is positioned through the slot of the C-section tube. Then the resilient sheet unfolds on its own resilience, so that the C-section tube and the resilient sheet can be both cleaned thoroughly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of an easy-to-clean drinking straw of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the easy-to-clean drinking straw of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an easy-to-clean drinking straw according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an easy-to-clean drinking straw according to still another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic drawing showing the disclosed easy-to-clean drinking straw having its resilient sheet being rolled up;

FIG. 6 is a schematic drawing showing the disclosed easy-to-clean drinking straw having its resilient sheet rolled up and positioned inside its C-section tube;

FIG. 7 is a partial, enlarged view of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is another schematic drawing showing the disclosed easy-to-clean drinking straw having its resilient sheet rolled up and positioned inside its C-section tube;

and

FIG. 9 is a schematic drawing showing the disclosed easy-to-clean drinking straw having its resilient sheet being pulled out its C-section tube.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of an easy-to-clean drinking straw of the present invention. As shown (also referring to FIG. 2), the drinking straw comprises: a rigid C-section tube 10 and a resilient sheet 20. The C-section tube 10 has a slot whose inner edge is combined with the front end of the resilient sheet 20 as a unity.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an easy-to-clean drinking straw according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the drinking straw is formed by a rigid C-section tube 10 whose slot having an inner edge combined with a front end of a resilient sheet 20. Particularly, the resilient sheet 20 has a rear end terminated with a raised edge 201. The raised edge 201 facilitates evenly rolling up when the resilient sheet 20 is rolled up from its rear end.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an easy-to-clean drinking straw according to still another embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the straw is formed by a rigid C-section tube 10 whose slot having an inner edge combined with the front end of a resilient sheet 20 as a unity. The resilient sheet 20 has its rear end terminated by a C-section edge 202. The C-section edge 202 facilitates evenly rolling up when the resilient sheet 20 is rolled up from its rear end.

FIG. 5 is a schematic drawing according to the present invention showing the resilient sheet is rolled up. As shown, the resilient sheet 20 is rolled up from its rear end toward the slot of the C-section tube 10 into a roll, and is then pressed into the slot of the C-section tube 10 so as to become tubular and get positioned inside the C-section tube 10 (also referring to FIG. 6). At this time, the pressing forced applied to the rolled up resilient sheet 20 is released and the resilient sheet 20 shows unfolding tendency due to its own resilience (also referring to FIG. 7) and thereby abuts against and fits closely the inner wall of the C-section tube 10 (also referring to FIG. 8) so as to form the drinking straw 100.

FIG. 9 is a schematic drawing according to the present invention showing the resilient sheet is pulled out from the C-section tube. As shown, for cleaning of the drinking straw 100, the resilient sheet 20 rolled up and positioned inside the C-section tube 10 is now pulled out through the slot of the C-section tube 10. At this time, due to its own resilience, the resilient sheet 20 automatically unfolds itself into a sheet (referring to FIG. 2), and makes it possible to clean the C-section tube 10 and the resilient sheet 20 conveniently and thoroughly. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An easy-to-clean drinking straw comprising: a C-section tube and a resilient sheet, wherein the C-section tube has a slot whose inner edge is combined with a font end of the resilient sheet as a unity; and the resilient sheet being such configured that when rolled up toward the slot of the C-section tube from its rear end and pressed into the C-section tube through the slot, the resilient sheet becomes tubular and gets positioned in the C-Section tube, and upon release of pressing force applied thereto, the resilient sheet shows unfolding tendency due to its own resilience and thereby abuts against and fits closely an inner wall of the C-section tube, so as to form the drinking straw.
 2. An easy-to-clean drinking straw comprising: a C-section tube and a resilient sheet, wherein the C-section tube has a slot whose inner edge is combined with a font end of the resilient sheet as a unity; the resilient sheet having its rear end formed with a raised edge; and the resilient sheet being such configured that when rolled up toward the slot of the C-section tube from its rear end and pressed into the C-section tube through the slot, the resilient sheet becomes tubular and gets positioned in the C-Section tube, and upon release of pressing force applied thereto, the resilient sheet shows unfolding tendency due to its own resilience and thereby abuts against and fits closely an inner wall of the C-section tube, so as to form the drinking straw.
 3. An easy-to-clean drinking straw comprising: a C-section tube and a resilient sheet, wherein the C-section tube has a slot whose inner edge is combined with a font end of the resilient sheet as a unity; the resilient sheet having its rear end formed with a C-section edge; and the resilient sheet being such configured that when rolled up toward the slot of the C-section tube from its rear end and pressed into the C-section tube through the slot, the resilient sheet becomes tubular and gets positioned in the C-Section tube, and upon release of pressing force applied thereto, the resilient sheet shows unfolding tendency due to its own resilience and thereby abuts against and fits closely an inner wall of the C-section tube, so as to form the drinking straw. 